


Love me like you did (In your dreams)

by karkedup



Series: Tumblr prompts [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Anakin Skywalker, Bottom Obi-Wan Kenobi, Canon Divergence - Battle of Mustafar, Canon Divergence - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Canon-Typical Violence, Crying, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, No younglings were killed in the making of this fic, Padmé Amidala Lives, Pining, Porn With Plot, Possessive Anakin Skywalker, Possessive Sex, Suitless Darth Vader, Top Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Top Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vaderkin, Vaderwan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27546751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karkedup/pseuds/karkedup
Summary: Two years after Obi-Wan leaves Anakin unconscious on the banks of Mustafar, he surrenders himself to Vader to protect Luke, Leia and Padmé.Or: How Obi-Wan dreaming about a blissful life with Anakin by his side and in his heart, to escape the heartwrenching reality as Darth Vader's trophy husband; starts a chain reaction that seduces a sith lord back to the light.
Relationships: (past) Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Vader, Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sheev Palpatine/death
Series: Tumblr prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014654
Comments: 46
Kudos: 293





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for the prompt [ part 1 ](https://avengingnatasharomanoff.tumblr.com/post/632958995520471040/22-dream-and-they-see-their-trophy-and-or-pet)[ part 2 ](https://avengingnatasharomanoff.tumblr.com/post/632958752488898561/so-either-anakin-or-obi-wan-fell-to-the-dark-side)

When Anakin drops to his knees in front of the Chancellor, he already feels defeated.

“I will… do….whatever you…ask. Just help me save them.”, he heaves out, feeling his soul tear itself apart.

“Good, Anakin. Good.”, the sith cackles.

He hopes with all his shattered heart that Obi-Wan understands he’s doing it for him, hopes that the man he has secretly been in love with will not hate him for this.

He’ll explain it all to him when this ends, that he did this all to protect him, to save him from dying a horrible death, from dying too soon.

He shuts his eyes and wills away the haunting vision of Obi-Wan’s body going limp in his arms.

He feels a gentle prod down their bond and quickly builds a duracrete barrier in his mind, completely blocking out Obi-Wan’s from feeling his

“Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth..Vader.”, Palpatine declares.

He opens his eyes and looks into the sith’s golden eyes and swallows the bile that rises in his throat, as he feels the dark side of the force suffocate him and clog his vision.

He’s being ordained a sith.

“Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic. Including your friend, Master Kenobi.”

_No._

_I'm so sorry Master._

He’s going to be everything he swore to protect Obi-Wan from, everything he swore to put an end to.

“Your journey to the dark side begins with the elimination of the Jedi. You will march into the temple with your battalion, and leave no survivors. Lord Vader, don’t hesitate, show no mercy.”

Ice colder than hoth freezes his veins and he goes numb. The Jedi…the people he grew up with, at whose side he fought.

He’s going to destroy and kill the people Obi-Wan loves.

He knows it then. Obi-Wan wouldn’t understand, he’s going to hate him, won’t ever stand to even look at him, he’ll never forgive him for this.

He’s not even sure if he’ll forgive himself for this.

In that moment, he knows there is no going back.

**~~**

He leads the march to the temple, and slices into the first Jedi that fights him, then another, and another.

It continues.

If the price of saving Obi-Wan’s life is his very soul, then so be it.

**~~**

The force shakes with continuous ripples of agony, death, and despair. Helpless cries of confusion and death echo when the force weeps for its dying Jedi. Its sound is etched to his mind like a broken holotape, and it takes everything in him to not crash to his knees as soon as he enters the temple through the secret passage.

But nothing—nothing compares to what he sees and feels upon setting his foot in the temple. The sight of lifeless Jedi and clones, the retching smell of blood, ash and smoke heavy in the air as he walks through the hallway that was once so full of life and light.

Now, it’s a tomb.

Some of the dead Jedi had marks from a single lethal lightsaber slash on their bodies.

He kneels down and closes the unseeing eyes of a young wookie—a senior padawan by the looks of it—still clutching their lightsaber in their limp, cold hand. He lets a sob escape his lips and murmurs a broken prayer to the force, “You may rest now. All of you.”

He gets up on unsteady feet and wipes away his tears. He tries to calm his agony, pain and betrayal to do what it will take to save the others. While there is still a chance.

But first, there is something he needs to know.

The trail of bodies of his brethren and clones increases as he walks towards the council chamber. His heart is thudding harshly in his chest as he surveys them, scanning for young and innocent lives taken too soon, and for a certain Jedi with dark robes and blonde hair.

The relief upon finding neither is somehow . He hangs his head mournfully, and sends out another prayer to the Force for the Jedi and padawans who sacrificed their lives to protect the younglings and helped them escape.

Steeling himself, he strides to the security wing of the temple and is unsurprised to find Master Yoda grimly staring at him.

They look at each other with mournful and solemn gazes, and the force around them weeps in loss, speaking everything they cannot say.

He swallows a lump in his throat, and the foreboding sense of trepidation pooling his stomach returns full force as he numbly touches the security holodevices. He felt it for the first time in Utapau when the twisted and dizzying howl of cold darkness came hurtling through Anakin’s side of their unsevered bond, then there was a cold, dark void where Anakin's golden presence used to be.

It made him abandon his mission after killing Grievous and run to the temple.

He slowly inches towards the button to start the holodevice, stilling when he hears Master Yoda’s dejected voice, “Know you already do, Obi-Wan. If you see them, only pain will you find.”

He licks his slightly trembling lips, “I must see it with my own eyes, Master Yoda.”, and presses play.

Few seconds in, the relief from not finding Anakin’s body in the temple turns into a deep despair, and tears cloud his vision.

“It can’t be.”, he says wetly.

But it is.

The Anakin in the footage kills Master Cin Drallig and grabs another Jedi by their throat, his saber holding hand deftly and quickly disposing off anyone who comes in his way.

Horror clogs his throat as he watches the man he loved, the boy he raised, and the man who was one of their own, slaughter his family. This is what dying slowly feels like.

“Lord Vader rise.”

“Yes Mast-”

He shuts off the holovid. In his chest, his heart stops beating. _Vader. Sidious.  
_

“Destroy the sith we must.”, comes Master Yoda’s grim but determined voice.

Betrayal, pain, and heartbreak threaten to consume him. He finally crashes to his knees.

“There is no hope for him, is there?”

“The boy you trained, gone he is. Consumed by Darth Vader. Too powerful the Master and Apprentice are, stop them we must.”

He shakily inhales, “I will not kill Anakin. He's like my brother, I cannot do it.”

If he strikes Anakin down, he's sure that Anakin would not die alone. Besides, you can’t kill someone who is already dead."

He looks down and pledges, “But I will do what I must to stop Darth Vader.”

He misses the sorrowful look Yoda shoots his way.

**~~**

“Obi-Wan! You’re alright!”, Padmé calls out as she dumps her cloak on the couch and rushes towards him, grasping his hands in hers.

“I saw the temple go up in smoke and flames last night, and Palpatine declared the Jedi to be traitors. What’s going on?”

“It’s Anakin.”, he manages to choke out.

She stares at him uncomprehending and something terrible must show on his face and her eyes fill with sorrow, “Oh…”

“He’s not dead.”, he quickly cuts in sensing what she must have deduced.

Collecting himself, he gently continues, “Padmé, Anakin is still alive but he’s in grave danger.”

“From the sith and the Emperor’s orders?”, Padmé cuts in, her brown eyes sharply searching his for clues.

He takes a shaky breath, “From himself. He’s fallen to the dark side and is actively aiding Palpatine hunt down the remaining Jedi.”

She drops his hands, “You’re wrong.”

She takes a step away from him and stares accusingly, “How can you even say that?!”

He looks at the desecrated Jedi temple through her balcony with unfocused eyes. “I know its difficult to acknowledge, much less come to terms with, but I saw it. I have felt his darkness. I have seen the security footage of him slaughtering the Jedi. He didn’t even spare the padawans. The clones have somehow turned against us, and have killed Jedi across the galaxy.”

“No”, Padmé sobs out, “No..not Anakin.” She sits heavily on the couch in distressed shock, as the truth in Obi-Wan’s words hits her.

“Palpatine was the sith lord who orchestrated the entire Clone Wars. He has been grooming Anakin to be his apprentice since his childhood. We were all deceived by a lie. So was Anakin.”

He walks over to the couch and sits down next to her, taking her hand in his. “I will do everything to bring him to safety, Padmé. I don’t know if I will succeed but you must tell me where he is.”

“I don’t know where he is, Obi-Wan. He did not tell me where he was going, all he said that the Jedi have turned against the Republic and that the Cha-Emperor has assigned him a task. We do not talk a lot these days anyway.”, she rubs her temple.

He gives her a gentle but dubious look.

“We are no longer seeing each other. I didn’t find out about our baby until after we divorced, and he was far in the outer rim. ”

_They were married._

Suppressing his surprise, he studies her face, looking for a hint of lie. Finding none, he looks down and pinches the bridge of his nose in despair.

There went his only chance to know where Anakin is.

He squeezes her hand, gets up and moves into the balcony to gaze out into the Coruscant’s unchanged skylane.

_“Use your feelings, Obi-Wan, and find him you will.”_

Master Yoda’s parting words echo in his mind, and he takes in a deep breath, shuts his eyes and pulls at the vestiges of the bond that he shared with Anakin. They were supposed to sever it after his knighting, but neither could bring themselves to.

He gathers the force around him and pushes at the newly constructed barrier where Anakin’s emotions and thoughts used to be. He scans it, and finds a small crack which he focuses on. He keeps pushing and prodding until he feels the embers of darkness surrounded by fire, heat and fury leak through it, and it takes the breath out of his chest. Diving into it, he sees a flash of lava river, and corpses strewn around a control room before he is violently pushed out, and the crack in the barrier is mended.

He swiftly retreats back to his own mind with a startled gasp and clutches the wall for support.

Anakin sensed him and closed his mind completely from him.

But he saw enough to know where he is, and prays that he is still there when he comes.

There’s a small hand on his shoulder squeezing it lightly. “You found him, didn’t you?”

He turns to look at her and nods grimly.

“I’m coming with you.”

He shakes his head, “He’s too dangerous. He’s not the man you loved.”

Padmé fixes him with a steely look and curls an arm protectively around her stomach, “I’m willing to take that risk. What will you do when you find him?”

He looks away and says very softly, “I will do what I must when I see him. The Anakin that we knew might be gone. Whoever he has become now, must be stopped.”

“You’ll not kill him.”, she states as if it’s a fact.

He looks at her questioningly and opens his mouth but she beats him to it, “You love him, Obi-Wan.”

He lowers his head and looks lost in his own inner turmoil.

“There’s still light in him. We can still help him, you can still help him. He needs you.”, she whispers.

Deep regret and pain swirls inside him, and he takes a shuddering breath. “Perhaps, in another time. But I’m afraid its too late now. And I wasn’t there when he needed me the most. It is one of my biggest falling.”

He looks at her with grief but there's also determination shining in his blue-green eyes. “You must stay here and seek out Bail Organa. The falling Republic needs you now more than ever. There’s so much to be done and your life is too valuable to be lost. There are lives that will depend upon you and need you.”, he nods at her pregnant stomach and continues, “ I will go to Anakin.”

She stares at him for a long moment, and he stands resolutely under the scrutiny of her assessing gaze. She must find what she was looking for and gives a conceding nod, much to his surprise.

“Be careful, Obi-Wan and may the force be with you.”, she states.

He nods, lips twitching in a rueful smile and takes her hands in his, “You as well. Stay alive, please.”

“With liberty and democracy dying in a thunderous applause, the galaxy needs all its guardians.”

He nods, acknowledging the statement as the promise that is being demanded of him.

She pointedly jerks her head in the direction of the hangar bay outside her apartment. “You might need another ship. One that they won’t shoot on sight. Also, take Threepio with you, he can reach out if you need backup. ”

**~~**

After making the jump into hyperspace, he leaves Threepio to the controls, and goes to the back of the cruiser.

He unlocks the staff door using the force, and slides it open to meet a guilty but determined looking Padmé Amidala sitting on the bunk bed.

He crosses his arms.

She straightens up and fixes him with a challenging look.

He narrows his eyes at her

She blinks at him.

He sighs, running a hand over his beard. “Let me meet him first and assess the situation. Stay here till then, and fly away if we are outnumbered. Please.”

Her shoulders loosen and her face softens but the resolve in her eyes remains. “You can meet him first. But if the situation goes south, I will interfere.”

He uncrosses his arms and sits down next to her. “I’ll decline to agree with you there. But if the man we knew is still in there somewhere, I might need your assistance.”

Padmé reaches out and squeezes his hand. “We do need to brief Threepio about this, though. In case we might need backup.”, she points out with an innocent look.

He resists the urge to sigh and goes to the control room.

**~~**

Half an hour later, they drop out of hyperspace and he sees Mustafar’s red molten surface looming through the viewport.

When they land, he recognises a familiar tall figure running towards the ship and feels the cold misery return. The second thing he notices is Anakin’s starfighter and Artoo hiding behind it. He hopes the moody astromech is on his side, if what Threepio said is anything to go by.

Force, how far has Anakin fallen that even Artoo recognised the change in him _without_ witnessing his heinous acts?

A part of him knows with certainty and heartbreak that only one of them will leave this planet physically alive.

Another part, a smaller part still clings to the hope that Anakin will defeat Vader, that the man he loves will come back to light; hopes that this wouldn’t mean the end of them.

He gets up from the pilot’s chair and nods at Threepio’s somehow anxious looking face, “If I’m not back, then you must wait for the signal and do what we discussed.”

“Be careful, Master Kenobi.”, the droid said.

“You too.”, he gives him a pat on his metallic shoulder.

He exits the ship and briskly walks towards the man approaching him.

Anakin comes to a halt in front of him, and envelops him into a crushing embrace.

Obi-Wan tries not to flinch away from the hug and forces himself to grip Anakin’s elbows, intending to push him away but his hands still.

“Anakin.”, he murmurs instead.

The blonde pulls away and cups his cheeks, and Obi-Wan is horrified to notice that he finds his body leaning into the touch despite feeling repulsed from the thick stench of blood, sweat and ashes oozing from Anakin’s robes.

The blood of his family, and innocents.

“You’re okay, Obi-Wan. I felt you in the force, coming to me, then I saw Padmé ship.” Anakin breathes out, crazed eyes manically scanning his face that makes the Jedi Master shiver from the unfamiliarity of it.

A look he has seen Anakin give to Padmé on the missions that they worked with the Senator.

A look he never thought he’d be at the receiving end of.

Its then he takes notice of Anakin’s force signature and it takes every ounce of self-control to not shove his former padawan away in revulsion.

Force, Anakin—no Vader, feels like the fires of Mustafar, the anger, hatred, lust for power, all blazingly bright in the embers of darkness that surrounds his very being, throb in the force. The dark side is practically wrapped around his very being. Where there was shining golden light, is now shrouded with dark, coldness, fury and promise of death to those who dare cross him.

“Anakin, why?”, is all that comes out, because it might be Vader who mercilessly slaughtered his family, but as much as he loathes to admit, its Anakin who stands before him.

At least, for now.

“Obi-Wan.”, Anakin exhales his name and pulls him impossibly closer and touches their foreheads together, left hand still cupping his cheek. His right arm slides down to his waist pulling him flush against his body, his warm breath fanning on his lips.

“Everything is going to be okay, my Master. You’re safe now.”

Obi-Wan licks his lips trying not to notice when Anakin’s burning gaze tracks the movement. “Anakin, I have seen what you did. I have felt the dark side change your force signature.”, he says quietly.

The lustful gaze wavers a bit but Anakin smiles, and it’s a smile so foreign on his face that it freezes Obi-Wan’s insides.

“Master you must have faith in me, I have not let it consume me. I’m _here_ Obi-Wan. I have bought balance to the force as I was supposed to. I have saved the Republic by seeing through the lies of the Jedi. I’ve saved you.” His thumb strokes his cheek almost lovingly. He almost melts in his arms and believes Anakin’s sincerity.

Almost.

“Anakin, come to your senses! The Chancellor has been deceiving you—”

“Shhh”, Anakin whispers putting a finger on his lips. Obi-Wan stares at him wide eyed in shocked silence.

“Obi-Wan.”, Anakin says softly looking so deeply into his eyes that it feels like he is peering into his very soul, the hair at the back of his neck stands up.

“My love couldn’t save you, or Padmé and our child. But my allegiance can.”

And Obi-Wan is too stunned to reply as he processes the words.

Love.

Anakin loves him.

He peers into those blue eyes that used to be so full of light, and said what his Padawan would never say. Now, he hardly recognises them.

He didn’t know this version of Anakin. His heart feels so cold that even the scorching heat of Mustafar couldn’t thaw it.

“I am becoming more powerful than the Chancellor, Obi-Wan. I..we could overthrow him. Together, you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be.”, Anakin -Vader finishes with a wide, sickening smile, eyes alight with a chilling glee.

He tried to shout and remind Anakin that he’s completely insane letting the dark side consume him when he hears a soft footstep behind him.

_Oh no._

“Anakin!”, a voice shouts.

_Kriff, Padmé no._

The ex-Jedi in question tears his gaze from his face and his expression blanks out, and Obi-Wan can’t tell if he looks pleased or angry.

“Padmé.” He relaxes his grip on Obi-Wan’s waist and removes his finger from his lips. The redhead slips away from him to stand in between them, but closer to her and away from him.

His eyes flicker between her and Obi-Wan and he fixes her with a glare, “What are you doing here?”

She walks towards him bypassing the redhead. “What have _you_ done, Anakin? ”

Anakin straightens up, “I did what needed to be done! The republic is corrupt, the Jedi were lying. The Chancellor saw it and wants to fix it!”

Padmé shakes her head, “At what cost, Anakin?! You’re a good person, please come back to the light. You’re going down a path I cannot follow!”

Anakin stares at her for a while and moves towards her and holds her stiff form in his arms. “Don’t you see?”

His eyes briefly flicker to Obi-Wan, “I did all of this for you and him.”, he smiles at him and turns to her with a pleading look but unkind eyes, “I won’t lose you the way I lost my mother. I promised to protect you both, and Obi-Wan. I promise you Padmé, our child will grow up in a peaceful time. I have ended his destructive conflict, and soon there will be order in the galaxy.”

Padmé’s eyes glisten with tears and one of her hand cups the side of his neck over his curls, her other arm curls around his shoulders and he leans into her touch. “Obi-Wan was right. You’ve changed, you’re not the man I knew.”

Suddenly, there’s a small vibroknife at Anakin’s neck whose hand is gripping Padmé’s wrist as the knife trembled in her grip from the pressure of his mechanical hand.

The knife falls on the platform with a clatter that breaks whatever peace was still left between them.

Anakin's eyes flash with regret but it goes away as if it wasn't there. 

Obi-Wan catches the fleeting look in his eyes, and it makes him simultaneously lose all hope for Anakin and reassures him that not all is lost.

Anakin curls his lip derisively and fixes her with a smouldering look. “You don’t trust me anymore. You’re not on my side.”

Padmé steps away from him when he releases her. “Your delusion and what you plan to do has made me lose all trust in you! You’re mistaken if you think I’ll let you anywhere near our child after what you did, after what you’ve become. You’re not the man I used to love.”

The manic fury in Anakin’s eyes comes full force, a flash of yellow comes and goes in his iris, and he screams, “You’ll not take my child from me!”

His hand shoots forward and seizes the air and Padmé lets out a choked sound, clutching her throat. Across Obi-Wan, behind Anakin's starfighter stood Artoo, whose lights flash rapidly in panic.

“Anakin! Let her go!”, Obi-Wan warns and darts forward only to stop when Anakin’s other hand flew towards him threateningly.

Padmé lets out a guttural sound as her feet lift above the ground. “A..nk..in”

“STOP IT!”, Obi-Wan yells and force pushes Anakin who stumbles back on unsteady feet, breaking the force choke. He looks at Padmé with glazed eyes when her eyes roll to the back of her head and she crumples to the ground. He then stares at his hand appalled, as if he was under a trance when he attacked her.

Obi-Wan immediately moves to her side, kneeling down and holding his fingers against her neck. He exhales in relief upon feeling her faint pulse. He’ll need to get her to the ship and away from here, she needs immediate medical help. Discreetly, he blinks slowly at Artoo’s lens and minutely jerks his chin towards the ship, and glances at Padmé and back. Artoo’s dome swivels and his light flickers twice.

Message received.

“She turned against me. The Order turned against me. Don’t you betray me, Obi-Wan.”, Anakin—whose sole focus was on him during his discreet exchange with Artoo— looks at him warningly with a hint of desperation, his voice deeper and angry. 

He stands up and circles around him and away from Padmé, leaving a wide berth. “Your anger and lust for power has already done that,Anakin. ”

Anakin stalks towards him and Obi-Wan starts stepping back feeling like a trapped animal as the force around him vibrates with Anakin’s fury and curls around him darkly in possessiveness. “You’re mine, Obi-Wan! Mine! Nobody will take you from me! Not even you.”, he roars.

Obi-Wan stops and it takes everything in him to not freeze and tremble at hearing Anakin’s possessive declaration.

“Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil! You’ve allowed him and the darkness to twist and corrupt your mind, until you became the very thing you had sworn to destroy!”, he shouts, uncaring that his pain and betrayal leak into his words.

Anakin stops and the fury drains from his face replaced by a faux gentleness and a shy smile. “Don’t be scared, my Master. Its not your fault. The Jedi took you from your home since you were a child, and brainwashed you, took your your choice and made you afraid of the dark side and failed you. They used you for their own betterment. Don’t you worry sweetheart, I’ll protect you from them. I have bought peace, security, freedom and justice to my new Empire. Join me, Obi-Wan and we can rule the galaxy. Together.”

He holds out his hand.

In his distressed haze and the suffocating darkness bleeding from Anakin, the endearment goes unnoticed by Obi-Wan.

He stares at Anakin’s outstretched arm, then looks searchingly into his eyes.

Padawan. Brother. Love. Jedi. Traitor. Murderer. Sith.

The man —he shamefully realises with resignation— he’s still in love with.

His mind now knows he has already lost his padawan to Vader and Palpatine.

His foolish heart still beats in hope that Anakin will resurface.

“Your _new_ empire?!”, he mockingly spits out in lieu of voicing his utter disbelief, longing and heartbreak.

The smile drops from Anakin’s face. “Don’t do this, Obi-Wan. Let go of the past which has bought us nothing but misery and pain. You don’t have to be a slave to the Jedi, you don’t have to hide what you feel for me anymore. That time is past us. The future is ours, my Master. We can finally be free. Join me.”

He is tempted to give in, to fall into those arms and forget about everything else. He looks at Padmé’s barely alive form curled on the ground.

He looks at Anakin’s pleading eyes tainted by the hostile edge in them, his outstretched hand still waiting for Obi-Wan to take it.

But Jedi Master Kenobi, member of the Jedi High Council and one of the last two surviving Jedi has his duty to the fallen Order.

And Anakin Skywalker might as well be gone.

_"Consumed by Darth Vader."_

_Master Yoda..._

He grabs his lightsaber from his belt, silently observing Anakin’s face going blank with rage and dejected acceptance, his arm dropping as he juts out his chin and stiffens in a battle ready posture.

The blue light from his lightsaber illuminates his face as he holds his saber with both of his hands, seeking the strength to do what will burn his heart to ashes.

“I will always be a Jedi, Anakin. My allegiance is to the Order and the Republic. I will do what I must.”

Anakin powers on his lightsaber.

He’s not sure who moves first when their blades clash against each other, the lava rises above them.


	2. Prologue pt 2

Blade to blade, they are identical.

In another life, they're fighting side by side, two minds mended into one, bodies moving in sync, hearts secretly beating for one another, blue lightsabers moving in tandem side by side, parrying in defence.

In this life, they fight against each other in an intimate dance, their minds closed off from the other, each knowing what the other will do, blue plasma crackling with each collision, slashing to hurt.

Its harsh and violent, blades swinging to injure the other, there's no mercy in their actions.

Around them the lava scorchingly flows, its vehement heat searing through them ruthlessly.

The river of lava seems to end somewhere behind them. Obi-Wan quickly decides he does not want to look.

For each blow Anakin delivers, Obi-Wan parries it with equal vigor, lightsaber moving to duck or block as he gave ground to Anakin, sparks flying whenever their blades collide.  
  
Anakin lands a particularly harsh blow to the side of his head with his saber hilt, and he stumbles, dropping his lightsaber, feeling more tired and heartbroken than he did before landing on Mustafar. He jumps and rolls on the floating platform, making Anakin miss the slash aimed at his arm. He summons his lightsaber and ignites it, making a failed pass at his opponent's legs. The flow of the lava underneath their platforms becomes less turbulent, Anakin seizes the opportunity to leap and land behind him, his boots landing on the very edge and he struggles to balance himself.

Obi-Wan holds onto his saber with both hands in a white knuckled grip. It takes every cell in his body to stop the instinctual response to pull him in. Anakin, who seems to balance himself at that very moment, strikes at him.

"Palpatine is playing with your deepest fears to make you do his bidding. He does not care about you, he's been lying to you!" He yells, needing him to understand and quickly parries when Anakin continues slashing at him. They're too equally matched, moving like a well oiled machine even while fighting on the opposite sides. He dreads the part when one of them will have to force themself to gain the upper hand.

Anakin curls his lip, his face red and hair swaying with the heat. "You're wrong! The Jedi have twisted your opinions and corrupted you! The Chancellor has been trying to help us all, why can't you see it?" Anakin growls, frustration and anger marring his face, and makes a swipe at his feet with his legs.

He dodges, stepping back and twirls his lightsaber. Every breath Obi-Wan takes, makes his throat burn and heart ache. "Anakin! Come to your senses! Palpatine is a sith, he's evil. You know very well that a sith isn't a being of compassion."

The smoulder on Anakin's face darkens and he snarls, "From my point of view the Jedi are evil! They enslaved me, enslaved you, but I have seen through their treachery! They hated me, always have. But the Chancellor stood by my side, he believed in me and my strength, even when you didn't!"

The words devastate him more than any physical blow Anakin has dealt him with. He tries not to physically recoil, forces away the tears from his eyes, and does not think about how the confession shook him to the core. "Anakin, he is tooling with you. Think about it, you confided your worst fears and insecurities with him. He knows where to hurt you, he only cares about you to make you do his bidding."

Anakin lowers his saber, and the fiery anger on his face dims, eyes a bit softer albeit hostile. "Obi-Wan, its alright. I understand why you didn't believe in me. The Jedi poisoned your mind with their lies, they've used you without caring about you, and held you back."

The words hurt him, its hurts to think that Anakin actually _believes_ in them, and they’re not a result of the dark side and Palpatine filling his mind with tempting lies.

Curious and confused by the change in Anakin, he too lowers his saber and looks searchingly at him.

Anakin too it seems, is looking for something. The burning gaze makes his stomach clench in a false sense of hope, and the forbidden love for Anakin locked in his heart threatens to bubble up.

The blonde must find whatever he was looking for and coaxes, "You love me. I can see it, don't hold it back. Come with me, Obi-Wan. I will overthrow the Chancellor, then it will be just us and my child. As it is meant to be."

He steps closer to him.

The charred and stormy force signature of his former padawan brushes Obi-Wan’s own, the defacement of the familiar force signature that a long while ago felt like an extension of his own, almost makes him fall into the lava below them. He quivers with the anger and heartbreak it causes.

With every passing second, Anakin is slipping away from him, and Darth Vader is taking his place. A tear escapes him and he shouts, "Anakin! You'll doom the entire galaxy into darkness. I cannot stand aside and let you commit those atrocities! My allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!"

It seems like Anakin is caught in the similar miasma, a flare of heartbreak graces his eyes, then fury takes over, his voice harsher and deeper than the redhead has ever heard. "Why won't you understand, Obi-Wan?! Palpatine has given me his word, Padmé would be safe. But not you! I cannot lose you, I _will_ not lose you! You're _mine,_ Master."

Oh, what he wouldn't have given to hear those possessive syllables before. Now, they freeze his insides because an imposter with his former Padawan's face saying them. "I have lost you. Only a sith would deal in absolutes."

His Anakin, his padawan, the man he loves is truly gone, he realizes with resignation and horror. He's failed.

But he refuses to utter the name given to him by the Sith.

The force threateningly churns around his former apprentice, darkened and burning hotter than Mustafar's heat, rightly proving his previously uttered words. "If you won't come with me, then you are my enemy! I won't let you go!"

He swallows the tears that threaten to spill, and drudges down the unsettled thoughts and emotions rattling in his mind. "I have failed you, Anakin. I have truly and utterly failed you."

Anakin scowls harder at him, his tainted force signature roars in fury, and dare he say, a flash of smug elation in it fuelled by the power flowing through him. He raises his lightsaber and without restraint, lunges at him with a flurry of quick, and ruthless moves. Obi-Wan gives back as good he's getting it, but his arms start to tire, and he knows whatever has become of Anakin lacks any coherency and restraint to stop. He was aware he was still holding back; one of them _had_ to, if things were to not get worse than they already were.

Dancing away from a slash aimed at his mid-riff, he spots a bank of volcanic gravel closer to them. He makes a high leap towards it, dodging another slash aimed at cutting him off below his kneecaps, and lands unsteadily on the bank. The gravel slips from underneath him, and the air feels cooler. He steadies himself and faces Anakin.

"Its over, Anakin! I have the high ground.", he warns, heart lurching painfully at the thought of what might happen next.

The platform Anakin is perched on floats at the bank, stilling with Anakin's use of force. He glowers at the redhead, "You have always underestimated my power, Master."

He shakes his head, teary eyes silently begging Anakin to not impulsively attack him. "Don't try it."

Anakin's lips curl in a ghost of a smirk, and Obi-Wan stills, dreading its reason. His former apprentice raises a gloved hand. He’s flying backwards, and crashing on the hot gravel, digging his hands, and feet in to not slip down. Anakin lands few feet ahead of him, extinguishing his lightsaber and advances towards him.

Obi-Wan's commlink beeps twice, and he does not need to look at it to know its Artoo, as the sudden cold darkness nearing them confirms Palpatine —The Emperor's presence.

If there's any chance to get out of here, it is now. With the calmness and serenity of a Jedi his heartbroken mind barely allows him to channelize, he closes his eyes detecting the darkness breezing in through the bond he still shares with Anakin.

He severs their bond.

Pain shoots through his head, his mind feeling so foreign, hollow, and empty without Anakin's presence. A presence, which had been there for thirteen years, anchoring him, was practically an addendum of his heart, body, mind, and soul.

"NO! Obi-Wan don't do this. PUT IT BACK!", a heartwrenching scream reaches his ears, and he blearily opens his eyes to look at the half-crumpled figure of Anakin, clutching at his head, chest heaving, and he's looking at him with manic desperation of a man dying.

Well, he supposes in a way Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi did burn to ashes in this hellish planet.

He doesn’t knows how to live when Anakin is gone.

He shakingly pulls himself up, and stands, observing the man before him.

With a panicked rage, Anakin is re-igniting his lightsaber and hurling himself at him.

He brings up his saber, and they're at it. This time, Anakin is unhinged, animalistic, and desperate. Its personal, raw, and its just them for the last time.

Its just them, and the damage they've done to each other.

Two halves of one Jedi, fractured into the ghost of their past selves.

One a failed Jedi Master. Another, a newly risen Sith from the ashes of a Jedi Knight.

In a moment of pure instinct and fury, Anakin jumps in air to strike him down, and in defense, Obi-Wan brings up his saber to defend against his.

Instead it meets his right arm, slicing it off at the shoulder in a neat cut.

Smell of burning flesh assaults his nose, and he tries not to puke.

A pain laced gurgled scream that will forever haunt him, slips out of Anakin. While moving his saber out of the way — to save Anakin — and down in a low arc, it burns the left side of Anakin's face in a singular cut extending from his left temple to his cheekbone.

Anakin's right arm falls on the river of lava flowing below them.

Petrified by his actions, he almost drops the saber, flinching away from Anakin as he drops on the ground. Saber slipping from his slackened grip, flesh hand —his only hand —scrambling for purchase on the charred sand, as he rolls down near the flames licking the shore. Obi-Wan drops his lightsaber, and force pulls his falling body closer to him, lest Anakin burn to death on the lava river.

With tearful red-golden eyes laced with pain, lips wobbling to hold back agonized gasps, Anakin stares at him.

If Palpatine wasn’t nearing them, and the unknown condition of a barely alive and pregnant Padmé, he would have gladly stayed with Anakin, comforting him, and paid his penance with whatever the Emperor would have done to him.

But he has his duty to fulfil, and Anakin was as safe as he could be.

He itches to bring him with them, but that would be a suicide mission.

With a heavy heart, and heavier regret, he summons his and Anakin's sabers to him and clips them to his belt.

"I HATE YOU!", Anakin screams, voice laden with pure, agony, pain, betrayal, and a hint of desperation, spit flying at his words.

Tears are now freely flowing down his own eyes, as he physically recoils from the words. He shakily brings his hand up.

Anakin heaves out a sob, the gold in his eyes bores into his very soul, the image will be etched to his mind forever, tearing his calm, and soul apart, every day from today.

''Help me, Master.", he chokes out brokenly.

"I loved you, Anakin. But I couldn't help you.", he rasps out, and weaves a strong force suggestion to him.

**_Sleep._ **

Anakin doesn't even fight it like he expected him to, instead he gives him a searing glare full of hatred, fury, pain and heartbreak and welcomes the unconsciousness.

A testament to the sheer mental and physical trauma he is in.

With a dry sob, and heavy limbs, he turns back and begins the run towards the ship. Face soaked with tears and sweat.

He reaches the platform where their ship is docked with its engine running, finding an anxious Threepio.

“Master Kenobi, come quickly. Mistress Amidala is rapidly losing her health, we must get off this dreadful place immediately.”, he says and turns to walk into the ship.

Obi-Wan slows down upon nearing them and pats his back. He climbs into the ship, the ramp shutting behind him.

Inside he finds a semi-conscious Padmé lying on a makeshift bed, blinking slowly at him, Threepio rushing to the controls, and Artoo plugged in to a corner, recharging.

The ship lifts off the ground, and he moves towards her.

“What happened with Anakin?”, she softly breathes out.

He swallows the lump in his throat and brushes her forehead gently, “He’s alive.”, he whispers and sends a sleep suggestion for the second time that day.

Padmé closes her eyes, and falls into a sleeping trance. Obi-Wan retracts his hand, and shakily rubs it over his face, looking at her for a moment.

Funny, how things change so quickly. One moment, everyone he knew and loved was alive, and they were so close to putting an end to this sith-damned series of wars.

To now, where the anguished and confused screams of his fellow brethren was still echoing in the force when their presence was snuffed out from the Living Force, their home a desecrated tomb, and Anakin, the man he loved, his best friend and former padawan who was so full of light, was a sith, the one who acted as the biggest catalyst to spur this catastrophe.

He tiredly makes his way across the co-pilot’s chair and murmurs, “Set a course to Polis Massa, Threepio. ”

The droid put in the coordinates in the hyperdrive, and Artoo beeped in a series of loud and fast beeps. “My, how rude!”, Threepio says indignantly.

He closes his eyes and looks out of the viewport as they hit the planet’s outer atmosphere.

Just as they hit the hyperspace, he sees Chancellor’s private vessel and other ships descend onto Mustafar’s surface.

**~~**

“Twins?”, Obi-Wan and Bail scream simultaneously, looking surprised. Besides them, Artoo swivels his dome and beeps, and the redhead’s pretty sure Yoda is rolling his eyes.

“Yes there are two babies.”, The med droid confirms as if its explaining the concept of twins to younglings.

“We must operate quickly, if we are to save them. Miss Amidala is physically healthy, but her body has fallen into stressed labor. If one of you will, please.”, they motion at the three of them.

Bail gives the redhead a nudge on the shoulder, and Obi-Wan numbly follows the medroid inside the delivery room.

Luke is born two minutes before Leia.

**~~**

Three hours later, Padmé is fully awake albeit still drained of her energy. She’s leaning against the headboard of the medbed, Leia cradled in her arms, her twin sleeping peacefully in Obi-Wan’s arms.

They were both very strong in the force.

“So, what now?”, Padmé breaks the apprehensive silence.

“Palpatine can’t know you’re alive, or that Luke and Leia and exist.”, Bail chimes in.

She nods, “What about you people? I would assume the Emperor wouldn’t be too happy to know Obi-Wan and Master Yoda are alive and well, or that you’re actively aiding us, Bail.”

“We could hide the fact you’re alive.”, Obi-Wan says carefully, looking at Padmé.

“Fake my death? Obi-Wan, I cannot possibly abandon you all to your fates and hide, whilst you all fight the Empire and for your lives everyday.”

“Helpful more, you could be if you’re in the shadows.”, Yoda says.

“Besides, they will not look for you and try to kill you if you’re already dead.”, Bail puts in.

Padmé purses her lips and looks contemplatively down at her daughter, who blinks at her, eyes intently fixed on her mother’s face.

“Padmé”, Obi-Wan softly says.

She looks up, he meets her eyes, and continues gently, “Anakin is alive and in the future, he will become the Emperor’s possible right hand. There are dark times ahead of us, and we must live wisely, you must live Padmé. So must Leia and Luke. They’re the galaxy’s last hope. They need you, the resistance will need you. The Emperor will not stop hunting you down. Because if Anakin were to have an offspring, they’d be a major threat to him, and knows this. Besides, if Ana-Vader has already given his report, you’ll be branded as a traitor and on the hunt-list of bounty hunters and Emperor’s enforcers in no time.”

She looks into his eyes, silence ringing in the room. Slowly, she nods and softly points out, “If I were to die, they’ll undoubtedly blame the Jedi Order and make it look like a murder. The people still respect me, and Pa-The Emperor will reap any and every sympathy and support he could from that, and he’d also try to actively diminish the people’s faith in the Jedi in the same blow.”

Yoda looks down ears flattening. Bail looks at Obi-Wan mournfully. Out of the two Senators, he was the one to actually witness the cold murders of Jedi Padawans and Knights alike in Coruscant.

Obi-Wan looks at Leia, who is now looking at him too, probably feeling his sorrow through the force, and Luke shifts in his arms, making a distressed little coo.

 _Force, they’re so bright in the force,_ he muses.

They’re Anakin’s children, after all. He shouldn’t be so surprised.

Obi-Wan cuddles Luke closer, and whispers without looking up, “We have what we have, when we have it. Right now, all that matters is to get them and you to safety. All the younglings and padawans who could escape have already been sent to a secure location. I have already changed the beacon signal at the Coruscant temple to alert the remaining Jedi, and now I will follow the will of the Force. We all will.”

He looks up, Padmé’s eyes hold a hardened understanding in them, and she gives him an accepting nod.

Yoda’s voice fills their ears, “Separated the children must be, strong in the force they are.”

Obi-Wan’s chest tightens at that thought. And he looks at Padmé to see her features sharpen and mould to her Senatorial expression, “No! I understand your concern Master Yoda, but they’re twins. They’d be the safest with me than apart, they’re family. I will not have them separated. ”

Yoda looks at her with narrowed eyes, “Understand the risk, their power in the force threatens, you do not.”

Obi-Wan cuts in, “I will go with them and watch over them.”

Padmé looks at him with wide eyes and breathes softly, “You..Obi-Wan.”

Obi-Wan’s throat clogs with an unknown emotion and he just nods numbly.

Yoda looks at him curiously for a moment. “Hmm.”

He then tapped his gimmer stick, “Into Exile I must go now. To Dagobah.”

Obi-Wan bounces Luke in his lap and nods, silently observing the blond tufts of hair on the little baby’s head.

So much like Anakin.

“So,”, Padmé says suddenly, and he looks at her. “Hm?”, he prompts when she doesn’t continue.

Her brown eyes scan his features. Very gently, she asks, “Are you sure you want to come with us?”

He allows his lips to twitch into his old, gentle smile, “I do, and I will protect them with every fibre in my being. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”

**~~**

On the Jungle and swampy planet rich with Force, an exiled Jedi Grandmaster examines his living space in the swamp.

In the ship en route to wild space, the two adults finally allow themselves to break in their own spaces, the two youngest of the four, with their bright, untainted minds dream of dawn in the darkest and deepest night.

A Prince Consort returns to Alderaan to greet his Queen, and is surprised to meet a baby girl, their daughter, adopted by the Queen on the night the Empire was born.

From the ashes of the Republic, the Rebellion slowly rises, under the unhurried and vigilant eyes of its leaders.

The fallen order with its surviving members, some together, and many lost and scattered, go on a journey to find their purpose and survive.

The Empire reigns over all of them, but there’s still a flicker of light at the centre of the poisoned, voluminous trenches of darkness.

**~~**

Everything hurts, there’s a thunderous storm wrecking him from inside out, fire on his skin and in his heart that won’t extinguish.

He opens his eyes, vision bleary, staring up at a dark ceiling. He senses Palpatine’s dark force presence, the dark side thrumming in his mind, and tainting his soul with its clutches. The Force feels so still, and empty, save for the dark trenches of Palpatine’s force signature. He swallows the nausea building in him.

“Where is Padmé? Is she and my child safe? Are they alright?”, he airily asks.

Palpatine hesitates and then says, “It appears that you have killed her and your unborn child in your anger.”

No. It can’t be. Not his children. He refuses to believe that.

In his inner turmoil, he misses the sick smile on Palpatine’s gnarled face.

“No, no, no. That is not possible, I felt it, she was alive.”, he chokingly denies, the fire in his chest flaring brighter, burning his lungs.

A flash of Padmé’s pregnant body lying crumpled on the floor, and the dark power rushing in his fingers assaults his mind.

“No, no.”

Obi-Wan was there. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t have let her —

Obi-Wan.

A flash of from a unforgotten nightmare: Obi-Wan holding a dead Padmé’s hand, holding their dead child to his chest, the scene now bleeds into a hazy view of red hair loosely sprawled on the ground, and unseeing blue-grey eyes on a beloved bearded, porcelain face.

He desperately claws at the remains of their bond in the depths of his mind, hungrily searching for the golden and anchoring presence.

Instead, he finds an empty void where there was life and light, the shorn off end of a thread, burned and darkened, mournfully torn apart from its other end.

Obi-Wan severed their bond. He’s lost him too.

The fire in him threatens to burst out and burn everything, including him. A rage, grief and anger like no other emits out of him in waves, the vials of blood burst around him, everything shakes. Something shatters.

He can’t tell if its his heart and soul or something in the chamber.

He yanks at the restraints and stands. “NOOO!”, an agonized scream rips out of his lungs.

He’s sinking to his knees with a thud, like a puppet whose strings got cut.

He’s lost their unborn child, he’s lost Padmé, and Obi-Wan is gone too.

Everyone whom he loved and swore to protect is either dead, or doesn’t want anything to do with him.

A helpless cry escapes his lips, hot tears cascade down his cheeks, droplets falling on his knees. He closes his eyes in anguish.

This is what being Anakin Skywalker feels like.

For a glorious moment, he had everyone he loved with him, everything was rose-tinted and gold and his. When it was all threatened, he let Vader’s cold fury and venom taint his heart, mind, body, and soul, let it fight for him, and let it burn whatever stood in his path to protect and secure the people he loved.

In the end, it cost him everything.

At the first dawn of the galaxy the very next day, he remembers everything and his world crumbles.

He remembers love, betrayal, and heartbreak swimming in him, remembers the ice burning his veins until everything was cold and bitter, and he was the shadow of the man Anakin Skywalker used to be. A powerful, vengeful, merciless being, but a shadow indeed.

Remembers wanting to silence Padmé’s hurtful words, remembers needing Obi-Wan to be by his side, remembers wanting to hurt that traitorous former Master of his for denying him his love and for severing their bond. Remembers the way that lightsaber cut his arm off and scarred his face, remembers Anakin Skywalker’s love and devotion for Obi-Wan, twisting and turning into singular hatred and fury as he lay with the flames licking the banks and heat swirling around him.

He understands now, the ultimate trap of the Dark side. When he should have been thinking about them, and being there for them, he allowed his fears to guide him, he thought of what would happen to him, should he lost them.

Now that it all came to fruition, all he has remaining is his own self. This is the ultimate becoming of a sith Lord. Through it all, Vader may have been the one to coldly cut through the Jedi, and his enemies. But for all his ruthlessness, Vader was merely a sword wielded by the hand of Anakin Skywalker. He’s become the very thing he despised. He was weak and foolish.

Now, all he has left is his failure, pain, his hatred for Anakin Skywalker, and himself.

A lone tear slips down his closed eye, and he slowly opens them. 

Sithly yellow eyes, with twin scars running down his face stare at him from his reflection in the black, shining trapisteel floor. He brings a durasteel hand to the fresh scar, and lightly traces it.

He might be alone, and trapped with his hatred, but not for long. He has something, _someone_ to take back, and bring him to where he belongs.

He stands. Darth Vader rises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just woke up to multiple serotonin boosts from Star Wars and Marvel alike, sooo here's the new chapter resulting from it. Also *inhales* HAYDEEEEN IS COMING BACK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> Alsoo, tis be the final prologue lol, the actual plot begins from the next chapter. Soooo feel free to bully me in the comments to write faster xD And thank youu all for the lovely response you guys gave to this fic aaah, it was all so unexpected and it makes my day to get kudos or comment emails from ao3 from y'all

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If you have made it till here, thank you for reading! Come scream about star wars, obikin, natasha romanov or anything at [ my tumblr ](https://avengingnatasharomanoff.tumblr.com)  
> Have an awesome week ahead! <3


End file.
